When the secret of the coins was discovered, the Master of the Altar vanished, leaving only a message to climb to the 80th floor.
After that, Yena clung to the signboard or looked up at the sky, continually shouting, but no response came.
The rabbit seemed to have gained even stronger defense, making it completely inaccessible.
“Haah… Right. If I climb, I’ll understand. If I climb…”
In the end, Yena murmured as if conceding to reality and stood up.
“Lady Lily.”
“Yes.”
“I’m thinking of heading straight to the 67th floor and rushing up to the 80th, so I don’t think I can go with you. If you have something to do, feel free to give up…”
“I’ll follow you right away.”
“That’s right! It’ll be quick. Really quick.”
When Leo and I said that, Yena looked touched and smiled faintly.
“From the 50th floor onwards, it’s a whole different dimension. You need to brace yourself.”
“Is it that much?”
“Yes. It’s not just about strength; there are much more instances where you’ll need to use your brain or time.”
“Hm…”
[Hmm]
[Hahaha]
[Is it really that much?]
[For Lily… well…]
[It might be that much hahaha]
[If it’s the Lily combo, it’s totally possible to catch up in 2 hours hahaha]
[But it does get harder after the 50th floor]
[For real lol]
I asked Yena, who seemed ready to leap.
“How long do you think it’ll take to catch up?”
“Given the speed you’ve been climbing so far… at least a day?”
“A day?”
“Yes. A day.”
Even Yena, who was considered a strong person, found the Growth’s Altar to be exceedingly challenging, taking several days to climb.
It wasn’t just about clearing; you had to collect ‘growth points’ to the maximum.
Of course, even assuming that, a day is a long time.
“Let’s reach it in 2 hours.”
“2 hours is a bit…”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“No, I do trust you… but wait. With Lady Lily, it might be possible. The 65th floor too.”
“65th floor?”
Yena seemed to want to complain about something but shook her head instead.
A reaction as if telling me to experience it myself.
I was a bit curious, but it wasn’t a situation where the Master of the Altar was escaping, so there was no need to cram for all the information needed for the strategy.
Before long, Yena made a large leap and vanished somewhere, while Leo and I headed for the 51st floor.
—
“…I guess it’s time to get moving over here.”
Leaving behind the signboard that was changing on its own.
—
KABOOM… CRASH!
It had been an hour and 16 minutes since we parted with Yena.
The boss of the 64th floor, the Ruby Golem, was swept away by Leo’s wind, losing its balance and falling.
The golem quickly rose again, but my spear had long since pierced the central core.
The golem was smashed and rolling on the ground, leaving behind one Red Coin and 40 Black Coins.
“Incrementally, it feels like the rewards are getting stingy.”
“I agree. No Golden Coins either…”
It was clear that the monsters from the 51st to the 64th floors were on a completely different level compared to those from the lower floors.
They were able to block our attacks to some extent and even seemed to have intelligence, systematically attacking us.
Also, the Growth Room had all sorts of weird training conditions like stabbing a weapon a hundred thousand times or running around a huge playground five hundred thousand times, but there were no problems.
“Kyyaaaaak!!”
Leo spun around like a lightning bolt, emitting an enormous current as if he were undergoing nuclear fusion, and I too quickly completed all the training conditions.
And the Mission Room hadn’t appeared since the 51st floor…
“Finally, the 65th floor.”
The 65th floor. It was the floor Yena mentioned as “very hard,” and I suspected it was likely the Mission Room.
Leo and I stood before it.
[65th Floor!]
[Really fast, haha]
[Great Lily]
[Should be done in 2 hours, right?]
[Be careful, the 65th floor is really hard]
[Expecting a 5-minute clear]
[Lily, let’s finish quickly and go see Danto]
[Leo is still lagging behind, haha]
“Zzzz..”
“Lord Leo, are you okay?”
“Uh… Am I? I’m fine. Oh.”
“Sounds like you’re not okay.”
“No, really. Absolutely. Ugh?”
Paaa!
The Saintess’s compassion activated, and a pure white light descended upon Leo.
Soaked in the divine, Leo momentarily spaced out, then quickly returned to normal.
“…It’s no longer zzzz.”
“Let’s get going.”
To the highly anticipated 65th floor.
■
[You have entered the Growth’s Altar, 65th floor.]
[You must complete a specific ‘mission’ to proceed to the next floor.]
[Mission – Protect the kingdom for 12 hours. (Fail if the queen dies)]
Beep!
[11:59:58]
Leo and I moved somewhere.
As I opened my eyes, I found myself in a luxurious royal palace adorned with an imposing throne.
A girl around high school age sat on the throne, flanked by knights standing along a red carpet leading up to it.
It was a familiar sight.
“It’s been a while. Hero Lily Elbrite, Leo.”
“History continues.”
“Ooh.”
All the previous missions, except the 49th floor, had been different stories. Mostly “easy” tasks like finding someone or attacking a monster den that had raided a village.
I hadn’t felt much connection to the next mission room, and even after travelling around the continent, I couldn’t find any commonalities with the previous mission rooms.
But the 49th floor had been ridiculous, having to protect a princess against absurdly high-level enemies in the 160s.
Suddenly, the difficulty had shot up.
And the princess back then was no older than middle school age at most.
“…? Thanks to your dedication, I could take the throne today. I invited you both today for thanks and a request.”
“How many years has it been?”
“It has been three years and 46 days. I should have granted you nobility and wealth earlier, but at that time, since I was still a princess, I couldn’t manage it. Please understand.”
The girl, now a queen, bowed her head.
She showed none of the regal demeanor one would expect from a ‘ruler’ of a nation, completely indifferent to the gazes of the surrounding knights and servants.
But what could be done?
Previously, the Dark Sorcerer had killed all the royal family except for her, so this tender girl was the only one who could ascend to the throne.
“I’ve killed all the royal family members, so the only one who can ascend the throne is that delicate girl.”
“Whether she’s qualified to be a queen or not, she must take the throne.”
“[That’s right]”
“[Bow down more]”
“[So all I have to do now is take the throne?]”
“[The princess has grown a lot]”
“[Lily, go go go go]”
“[Is Lily a hero?]”
“[Lil Hero]”
Leo, now merged with the Ice Spirit, asked.
“Hem hem! But why did you call me?”
“…You remember, right? The Dark Sorcerer and his crew that you caught.”
The Dark Sorcerer.
A powerful being in the late 160-level range who used spells of darkness.
He had received power from ‘someone’ and grasped endless darkness, tainting his subordinates with that very power.
When Leo and I first entered the 49th floor, the Dark Sorcerer had long since kidnapped and murdered all the royal family except for the princess.
The only surviving princess barely managed to meet us right before her death, allowing her to keep her life.
Normally, it would be standard to fight only the Dark Sorcerer’s subordinates, but I just found the Dark Sorcerer and bashed him with my hammer to subdue him.
“The Dark Sorcerer and his crew have been trapped in the kingdom’s underground prison, forbidden from using their magic. That magic was a taboo created by the kingdom’s greatest Great Mage, mimicking a God. No matter how strong the Dark Sorcerer was, he couldn’t escape from it.”
Peace had returned to the kingdom for over three years since Leo and I left.
After restoring order, the only legitimate heir, the girl, ascended the throne, and the threat seemed to fade away…
But.
“A serious incident has occurred.”
“Did the Dark Sorcerer escape?”
The girl nodded gravely.
The Dark Sorcerer and his crew had escaped beyond the castle gates.
During their escape, they killed a few guards, but fortunately, they didn’t do anything major to shake the entire kingdom.
“Of course, they didn’t escape on their own. They were weakened by the strength of the two heroes, and the forbidden magic was top-notch.”
That leaves only one thing remaining.
“[A betrayer?]”
“A betrayer must have opened the way.”
“That’s right.”
“Who betrayed us? Such a prison must be hard to enter.”
It’s a space capable of sealing a powerful being at level 160.
Ordinary folks couldn’t even approach, and knights or sentinels wouldn’t easily get in either.
‘Unless it was a remarkable expert or a high-ranking official skilled in magic.’
The girl hesitated.
No, she was in great torment.
It was as if she didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she eventually spoke.
“The Great Mage…”
“…?”
“The Great Mage Tio. He broke his own magic and helped them escape. He has fallen.”
The pride of the kingdom, Tio, betrayed them.
According to the barely surviving sentinel, the old man with impressive green hair had changed into a youthful face with dark violet hair.
Especially, his emerald-like green eyes had turned into a chilling purple, looking down at the sentinel arrogantly.
“I don’t… I don’t understand why he would do such a thing… He was definitely on my side…”
“…A mage. You called him an old man, but do you know how many years he’s been alive?”
“I don’t know… He must have existed even before I was born. He must be over 200 years old.”
“…….”
200 years.
A normal human, born with mana, can live about 200 years once they reach a certain level of mastery.
The more mana a body holds, the stronger it becomes, and as the body strengthens, aging slows down.
Naturally, with aging slowing down, lifespan increases as well.
But there’s a limit. The great mages I’ve seen usually passed away around the age of 200.
The longest anyone lived was about 240 years, but even that last 10 years were spent struggling.
“He didn’t want to die.”
“…Pardon?”
“This is what I think.”
The pride of the kingdom, Great Mage Tio.
The highly respected Great Mage Tio was probably at the end of his lifespan.
If he had mixed blood of beastmen or other races, he could have lived at least twice as long, but he was just an ordinary human.
He extended his life somehow with the intelligence and mana he had accumulated over the years, but the end always comes.
Amidst his deep contemplation, a dark sorcerer appeared before him.
Known as the ‘Corrupted,’ who had almost infinite life.
For Tio, who was just waiting for the day to die, it was more than enough to change his mood.
“I’m sure he talked several times about casting the sealing magic.”
“……”
“It’s like giving fish to a cat.”
Of course, it was a situation where he had no choice but to.
Bam!
Your Majesty!
Your Majesty, what happened!
[??]
[What’s this?]
[Why is he kneeling?]
[The old man’s gone senile, and everything’s ruined, haha.]
[200 years is enough; why does he want to live longer?]
[For real, haha.]
The girl came down from the throne and knelt.
Leo was startled and waved his hands to help her up, but the girl stubbornly pressed her knees to the ground.
“Please help me!! Soon, the worst enemies will invade the kingdom! Although you might not want to ask for help again like this…”
“……”
“If you help, I will do anything for you.”
“Sure, I will help.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes.”
Thank you!
The girl continued to kneel, expressing her gratitude, and I nodded.
After all, I had to do this to clear the mission, but it wasn’t just for the mission.
‘The Corrupted…’
The dark sorcerer certainly did not possess magic.
It was simply a vile power, but it wasn’t a disturbing and disgusting force.
However, Tio not only became physically younger by gaining power, but he also extended his ‘life.’
‘It’s worth checking out.’
A being that can extend ‘life’ to something close to ‘infinity’ just by giving a part of its power.
There are only two races known to have such power.
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